2022-09-02
Children under the war have lost their self-esteem, art becomes thekey to healing.
Learning from Front-Line Practices
Hon. Susan B. Parker is the Director of Policy Development for Persons with Disabilities at the U.S. Department of Labor and Senior Advisor on Disability Policy at the International Labor Organization (ILO). She said that people in need must be the first priority, and hopes to construct an approach based on human dignity services and integrate social work in disability policy and clinical psychiatry to serve the needs.
Ms. Susan Parker entered the medical and psychiatric practice as a career starter. At that time, there were no manuals or any available information on the Internet to search and guide the treatment of the most challenging diseases. Coincidentally, a new group of service needs came along and she was able to learn from the front-line of practice.
An Unforgettable Past
The front-line practices mentioned by the President include veterans returning from Vietnam, child soldiers who fought in the Sahara Desert in Africa, and so on. All of whom have huge psychological barriers due to their backgrounds. Susan Parker's team provided the practical assistance, and she learned a lot from working with a number of great leaders at the time. "They take the big picture and action, and they're the ones I follow for the rest of my life. That's how she describes those leaders.
Within the practice experiences of Ms. Susan Parker's presidency, the issue of child soldiers can be complex and difficult to resolve. "They have fought in Africa, killed people in their hometown, and are socialized with other child soldiers who fought together against the enemy. They don't know how to forgive themselves, have extremely low self-esteem, and are considered incapable of taking on socially valuable roles.” They are unable to forgive themselves, as if they are living in the quagmire of the past and do not know how to get out of it. Many child soldiers lose their self-confidence and even their ability to live and work independently in the future.
Fear is written on the children's faces,
and the wheat fields have fallen in the direction of the tanks.
Dandelions are drifting apart and flying in despair
-Jay Chou, The Mourning of War (2004)
This Golden Melody Award-nominated pop music piece from 18 years ago might be able to capture the helplessness and hopelessness of children on the battlefield. Moreover, they are child soldiers being pushed into the battlefield.
As for veterans, "they experience post-traumatic stress disorder, emotional detachment, feeling scared, frightened, personality changes are all things that can happen to them," said Susan Parker.
Healing the Wounds with Art Rehabilitation
It is the goal of Rehabilitation Through Art (RTA) to use art to heal the wounded spirit. RTA works with professional teaching artists in the fields of acting, dancing, music, creative writing and visual arts, and holds annual seminars. It assists in emotional upliftment, social integration and cognitive disorders through the arts.
For example, the child soldiers use music and voices to cheer each other up, to soothe their past, and to be optimistic and positive about their new lives; The veterans are allowed to live far away from the city and stay in the hills, doing paintings, poems, textiles, and so on to ease their stress and heal their souls.
Ms. Susan Parker cites the findings of a report by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City and the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York State to show that "The rate and severity of violations in prison to be significantly lower for those who participate in arts rehabilitation compared to the group of non-arts rehabilitation participants according to the study."
However, the toughest and most challenging to help are often the last to be reached. 'Our work is not yet done." said Ms. Susan Parker with a sense of mission. Nowadays, more people around the world are in need of help than ever before, especially young and old people who are affected by social unrest. In the U.S., many states have adopted "arts rehabilitation," which offers diverse services, but the ultimate goal is to develop life skills through the arts and to construct a model of justice based on human dignity rather than punishment.
Arts Development Program for the Persons with Disabilities (VSA)
The Kennedy Center for the Arts in the U.S. has established relationships and resources for persons with disabilities to pursue the arts under the project called VSA(Arts Development Program for the Persons with Disabilities, VSA). A number of artists from Taiwan have been invited to participate in art exhibitions and music competitions.
The four principals which guide VSA include, "All artists in schools and art educators should be prepared to include students with disabilities in their instruction.", "All children, youth, and adults with disabilities should have complete access to cultural facilities and activities.", "All individuals with disabilities who aspire to careers in the arts should have the opportunity to develop appropriate skills." , "Every young person with a disability deserves access to high quality arts learning experiences.".
VSA has been implemented for 30 years, with programs such as the Young Soloists Awards, Playwright Discovery, and Call for Children's Art. Besides these programs, events are also organized. VSA has been committed to bridging the gap between disabilities and art activities.
Just as Eden started to bring art into the rehabilitation work of persons with disabilities services 12 years ago, disabled people can create a different expression from their previous life experiences in rehabilitation, and move towards an "equal and inclusive" society.
